Box with cover and hinge therefor



May 12, 1936. H. H. WANDERS BOX WITH COVER AND HINGE THEREFOR Filed June25, .1952.

Patented May 12, 1936 UNITED} STATES PATENT .EOFFICE BOX WITH COVER ANDHINGE THEREFOR Hans H. Wanders, Hingham, Mass.

Application June 25, 1932, Serial No. 619,282

10 Claims.

This invention relates to a hinge especially adapted for use inconnecting covers to boxes.-

The invention furthermore relates to structure or formation of theportions of the box and cover adjacent to the hinge whereby the hingemay be quickly and easily secured to the box and cover without the useof screws, rivets or other similar fastening elements. The invention canbe embodied in boxes and hinges of various materials. It is desirablethat the hinge be made, at least in part, of springy or resilientmaterial. The box and cover may be made of any desired material which issuitable for the purpose, such as wood, pulp, pressed metal, etc. Theinvention is of particular value in the case of boxes which are made bydie-molding a suitable plastic. In forming articles of plastics such asbakelite which must be molded under conditions of high temperatures. andpressures, it is necessary that the dies be of such a shape as to moldan article which will permit the retraction of the dies from each otherin opposite directions after a molding operation. This limits to someextent the shapes which can be employed in making articles such as boxesand the like. It is an object of the invention to provide a hingestructure adapted to be mounted on a die-molded box without the use ofscrews, rivets, or other similar fastening elements. It is a furtherobject of the invention to provide a box and cover of such a shape thatthey can be diemolded and will cooperate with such a hinge so that theresulting assembled structure is simple, strong, and easily assembled.These results are obtained by forming on the outside of a wall of thebox, a shoulder under which a hook-shaped portion of a hinge member maycatch, the hinge member having another portion engaging the inside ofthe wall so as to hold the hooked portion in engagement under theshoulder on the outside. This hinge member is preferably made ofresilient material, such as spring metal, so that it can be readilysnapped into place.

For a more complete understanding of the invention, reference may be hadto the description thereof which follows, and to the illustrationthereof on the drawing, of which,-

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a flanged box cover embodying theinvention, a portion being broken away to illustrate the shape of therear flange.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a box embodying the invention, aportion of the rear wall being broken away to show in section.

, Figure 3 is a perspective view of a hinge made according to theinvention and adapted to be assembled with the box and cover shown inFig-' ures 1 and 2.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary rear end elevation of the assembled box,cover, and hinge.

Figure 5 is a section on the line 55 of Figure 4.

Figure 6 is similar to Figure 5, showing the cover in the course ofbeing assembled with the hinge.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary section of a modified form of rear wall for abox.

Figure 8 is a fragmentary perspective view of another modified form ofrear wall for a box.

Figure 9 is a perspective view of a box having slots in the side wallsinstead of a recess in the rear wall to receive a hinge member.

Figure 10 is a section of a modified form of box, cover, and hinge.

Figure 2 represents a box l0 which may be made of any suitable material,the shape being such that it can be made of a plastic such as bakelitemolded in a high-pressure mold. The box includes a bottom II, a frontwall l2, side walls l3 and i4, and a rear wall I5. A portion of the rearwall may be especially formed with a rearwardly or outwardly extendingbead 20 which projects beyond the outer face 2| of the wall to form adownwardly facing shoulder 22. The upper part of the inside of thespecially shaped portion of the rear wall is offset as at 23 from thelower inside surface 24 of the wall, forming a recessed area. Thisresults in a shoulder 25 which is undercut as at 26, forming a channel30 which opens upwardly. The specially shaped portion of the rear wallmay extend for the most part of the length of the rear wall, asillustrated in Figure 2, to receive an elongated hinge such as isillustrated in Figure 3, or may be confined to one or more short lengthsto accoimnodate one or more short hinges.

Figure 1 illustrates a cover 35 for the box Ill, this cover havingflanges 36 adapted to engage the upper edges of the walls of the box Ill. As shown in the figure, the rear flange may have a portion.

shaped similarly to the specially shaped portion of the rear wall of thebox, and corresponding thereto in length so as to receive the othermember of the hinge which is attached to the box. To this end, the rearflange of the box cover may be provided with a rearwardly or outwardlyprojecting head 3'! forming an upwardly facing shoulder 40 on theoutside of the cover. 0n the inside, an offset portion 4| of the innersurface of the rear flange forms a shoulder 42 which is undercut toprovide a channel 43 opening downwardly.

Cooperating with the box and cover structure form knuckle portions 52adapted to surround a hinge pin 53 about which as an axis the members 50and 5| rock relatively to each other. Each member, in addition to theknuckle portions 52, includes a pair of jaw members 55, 56, whichproject laterally from the pin 53. The jaw member 55 may be for the mostpart a flat plate adapted to be against the offset portion 23 of theinner surface of the rear wall, the lower marginal portion 51 of the jaw55 being seated in the channel 30. The jaw member 56 is provided withone or more portions projecting toward the jaw portion 55 so as to forma hook portion adapted to engage under the shoulder 22. As shown inFigure 3, this hook portion may take the shape of a flange50 along thelower edgeof the jaw member 56, the flange being bent at right angles toproject toward the member 55. The hinge is assembled with a box cover asindicated in Figure 6. Since the hinge members are of resilientmaterial, the jaws 55 and 56' may be sprung apart to permit the jaw 56to pass the bead 20 of the box or the bead 31 of the cover, these beadspreferably having a rounded edge 62 to facilitatethe assembling of thesemembers. When the flange 50 passes beyond the bead, it snaps under thecorresponding shoulder and is not removable therefrom except by theapplication of a suitable tool or by the application of destructiveforce to the hinge. The marginal portion 51 of the jaw member 55 seatsin the channel 30 in the. box or in the.channel 43 in the cover andprevents the-jaw 55 from springing away from-the surface against whichit normally lies, when the cover is thrown back. It is evident fromFigure 5 that once: the hinge is properly assembled with the boxand thecover, it forms a strong and permanent connecting link between the boxand-its cover.

As indicated in Figure '7, the shoulder 22 may beformed by cutting orsawing a kerf 65 in the rear. wall'of the box or in the rear flange ofthe cover. This kerf is thus in lieu of the bead 20 or 31, but requiresan extra manufacturing operation.

As illustrated in Figure 8, the vertically extending shoulders betweenthe ofiset portion 23 of the inner surface of the rear wall and the restof this inner surface, are undercut to form channels 66 and 61, thesechannels opening toward each other and serving to anchorthe jaw member55 of the hinge. This form of anchorage is suitable for relatively shorthinges, the horizontal channels 26 being preferable for long hinges.

A slightly different form of box embodying the invention is shown inFigure 9. In this case, the inner surface of the rear wall of the box isnot recessed but vertical channels 10 adjacent to this wall are formedin the side walls to receive and anchor a hinge-member 55 after themanner of the channels 66 and 61 shown in Figure 8. This permits athinner rear wall since no extra thickness is required to provide for arecessed or ofiset portion as in the forms shown in Figures 2 and 8.

Instead of a flanged cover as shown in Figure 1, a box may be providedwith a flat cover 80 as shown in Figure 10. To accommodate such a coverhaving a length and width equal to the outside length and width of thebox, the jaw members of the hinge which engage the box wail may bebent.as shown at 8| so that the hinge pin is rearward of the box wall and notbetween the box and cover.

It is evident that many alterations and changes may be'made in thespecific details of the structure herein described and illustratedwithout departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as definedin the following claims.

I claim:-

1. A hinge comprising two members rockable relatively to each otherabout an axis, one of said members having' two spaced portionsprojecting laterally from said axis, one of said portions having themargin along its free edge bent to form a flange projecting toward theother said portion.

2. A hinge comprising a pair of members rockable relatively to eachother about an axis, one of said members consisting of a sheet of springmetal shaped to form a pair of jaws, one jaw having a terminal flangeprojecting toward the other jaw, said other law being disposed in asingle plane.

3. A hinge comprising a pin, a pair of members rockable relatively toeach other about the pin as an axis, each said member consisting of asheet of spring metal bent around said pin and projecting laterallytherefrom to form a pair of jaws, and aflange on one jaw of each memberprojecting toward the other jaw of the same member, each of said otherjaws being disposed in a single plane.

Y 4. A box having a bottom and side walls, one

of said walls having a downwardly facing shoulder on the outsidethereof, in combination with a hinge having a member with two jaws, theouter jaw having a hook portion engaging under said shoulder, the innerjaw projecting downwardly within said box, said box being formed with achannel in one of said walls in which a marginal portion of said innerjaw engages.

5. A box having a bottom and side walls, one of said walls having adownwardly facing shoulder on the outside thereof, in combination with ahinge having a member with two jaws, the outer jaw having a hook portionengaging under said shoulder, the inner jaw lying against the innersurface of the externally shouldered wall, said box having an innerchannel adjacent to the inner wall surface engaged by said inner jaw, amarginal portion of said inner jaw engaging in said channel.

6. A box having a bottom and side walls, one said wall having on itsoutside a downwardly facing shoulder and on its inside a recessed areawith a flange overhanging a marginal portion thereof to form a channel,in combination with gaging under said shoulder and a second portion onthe inside of said wall seated in said channel.

8. A box having a bottom and side walls, one of said walls having anexternal shoulder facing downwardly and a plane inner surface, said boxbeing formed with a pair of vertical inner channels in the wallsadjacent to the shouldered wall at the junction of said walls, wherebyone side of each channel is a continuation of the inner plane surface ofsaid shouldered wall, in combination with a hinge having a member withan inner and an outer jaw, the outer jaw being hooked under saidshoulder, the inner jaw lying against said plane surface with marginalportions fitting in said channels.

9. A box having a side wall, in combination with a hinge therefor, saidhinge and the outside of. said wall having interengaging elementsarranged to prevent upward movement of the hinge element relative tosaid wall, said hinge having a 'flat member disposed against the innerface of said wall, and means within the box and forming a part thereofengaging the marginal portion of said flat member and preventingmovement of said member away from the inner face of said wall.

10. A box having a side wall and cover adapted to be connected by ahinge, external beads on the mutually adjacent marginal portions of saidwall and cover, and a hinge comprising a pin and two members relativelyrockable thereon, said members each consisting of a pair of jaws ofresilient material sprung over said respective beads and positively heldthereby, said beads having suflicient width to require springing thejaws of each pair apart for a substantial distance to receive the beads.

HANS H. WANDERS.

